HOUSTON (July 11, 2023) – Tyson & Mendes LLP, a rapidly growing nationwide insurance and civil litigation defense firm, announced today the opening of its first Texas office with the appointment of skilled civil litigator Jennifer D. Akre as the Houston Office Managing Partner.

Akre, a Houston native, joins Tyson & Mendes from Hartline Barger LLP in Houston where she practiced since 2016 and served as a partner since 2020. With more than 15 years of legal experience and capabilities in all areas of insurance defense, Akre’s practice focuses on trucking and transportation litigation, premises liability, and excess casualty matters. She also defends high-risk matters related to catastrophic losses on behalf of companies in the oil and gas and multifamily housing industries.

“Tyson & Mendes is thrilled to bring our nationwide Nuclear Verdicts® defense platform to our clients in Texas, and to offer a team of highly-trained trial lawyers to meet our clients’ needs in the state” said Strategic Managing Partner Robert Tyson. “We have searched for the right person to lead our first Texas branch for years now, and we believe this office opening was worth the wait. Jennifer shares our values, mission, expertise, and passion. She is the right person to lead Tyson & Mendes’ first office in the vital Texas market.”

Houston is the third new Tyson & Mendes office in a row to open with a female managing partner – following Jacksonville, Florida in 2023, and Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2022 – which exemplifies the firm’s continued commitment to closing the gender gap in the male-dominated legal industry. The firm is looking to continue its growth in other Texas markets in quick succession.

Prior to her role with Hartline Barger LLP, Akre clerked for Honorable Judge Nancy Rahmeyer on the Missouri State Court of Appeals and successfully managed a solo criminal defense practice for four years. She is admitted to practice in Texas and Missouri.

Akre was recognized as a Super Lawyers® Texas Rising Star by Thompson Reuters from 2015 to 2017. She earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, where she clerked for the honorable Jimm Larry Hendren, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, and served as a note and comment editor for the Journal of Food Law and Policy. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Southwestern University.

Now serving 21 states nationwide, Tyson & Mendes is one of the fastest growing civil defense firms in the U.S. The firm is proud to offer one of the clearest paths to partnership of any mid-sized law firm in the U.S., and it invests more in educating and training its attorneys than any other insurance defense firm.

For more information and to view career opportunities, visit tysonmendes.com.

About Tyson & Mendes LLP

Tyson & Mendes LLP is a nationwide, AV-rated litigation and trial firm specializing in insurance defense and protecting its clients from Nuclear Verdicts®. Robert Tyson and Patrick Mendes founded the firm in 2002 to defend corporations, insurance companies, and their clients in civil litigation matters. The firm has experienced tremendous growth in the past two decades, with offices across the U.S. serving clients in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The firm is most widely recognized for winning the landmark Howell v. Hamilton Meats California Supreme Court case, which forever changed the state’s litigation landscape by significantly impacting the damages a plaintiff may recover. In 2022, the firm launched the Nuclear Verdicts Defense Institute, the only trial academy that teaches defense attorneys how to stop Nuclear Verdicts®. Robert Tyson is also the author of the Amazon Bestseller Nuclear Verdicts®: Defending Justice for All, the first (and only) playbook for the defense on how to avoid runaway jury verdicts.

For more information, visit www.tysonmendes.com.

Keep Reading

Tyson & Mendes Welcomes David Heemann as Partner in Seattle Office Tyson & Mendes Secures Full Defense Verdict in $16 Million Bicycle Accident Lawsuit Tyson & Mendes Opens New Office in Atlanta, GA Tyson & Mendes Welcomes Hector Jimenez as Partner in San Diego Office Tyson & Mendes Secures Over $1.5M Savings in Trucking Lawsuit Tyson & Mendes Secures Mansfield Certification for 2023-2024, Affirming Its Commitment to Leadership Diversity PropertyCasualty360 Recognizes Insurtech Startup Schaefer City Technologies with its Insurance Luminaries 2024 Award for Technology Innovation Tyson & Mendes Announces Fourth Florida Office With Tallahassee Expansion Tyson & Mendes Announces Kristina Milone as Managing Partner of New York Office